When Alex met Bobby
by lupinator
Summary: An undercover operation gone band sets up a freak meeting between two people who would soon change each other's lives (dramatic music starts).


When Alex met Bobby  
Lupinator17 aka kelso240  
Rating: PG for minor language  
Disclaimer: Isn't it every fan fiction author's dream that somebody will read their story and decide that it would make a good episode? That said, they're not mine.  
A/N: No, I don't think this is what actually happened. Yes, I know that they are both acting a little out of character. Yes, I know that this would (hopefully) never happen in the real world. And yes, I know that I have succumbed to many CI generalizations. That being said, take pity on me, this is my first (published) CI fic. Hopefully I haven't offended your view of the characters too badly.

On with the show!

Alexandra Eames was counting down the minutes. The minutes left until she could tear this skirt off, rip off these god-awful shoes and sit on her couch eating ice cream and wearing sweat pants.

The only problem was she was counting down without a watch.

Five minutes...

Four minutes, 59 seconds...

Four minutes, 58 seconds...

She had been out here for hours, stuck with the worst possible job today. This was the corner where known drug users got their. Only instead of money, they naturally tried to pay with drugs; any kind of drug available.

Four minutes, two seconds...

Four minutes, one second...

So here she was. Doing everything but having sex to get the drugs from these guys. Kissing...feeling them up...promising them...things...

Three minutes, 30 seconds...

Three minutes, 29 seconds...

And then she saw him. A large lumbering man coming toward her.

_Noooooo!_ she internally screamed. _Three more minutes_, she whined. _Why couldn't you wait three more minutes?_ She wanted to run and hide. Run away and bathe herself until her whole body shriveled up. Run away and be anywhere but here.

-

Robert Goren was counting down the minutes. He had somehow pulled the short straw today and had gotten the job of trolling for druggie hookers.

What fun.

He had been up and down these streets for three hours. He had busted ten hookers who were looking to score some drugs. The brass up top had the hope that these lower forms would spill on their regulars and supplies.

Basically, the "higher ups" were bored. Really bored.

He glanced at his watch. Three more minutes and he could go home. Wash off the drug slime from the day, and collapse in front of the TV with a good book.

And then he saw her.

She was petite, and dressed like she was looking to score. She was at the very end of the street, probably to hide herself from the cops that patrolled by from time to time. Why couldn't she have hid herself from him for a couple more minutes? He didn't want to deal with any more girls throwing their life away today.

He could turn around. Pretend he didn't see her standing there. Run away, far, far, away.

"C'mon Bobby, I'm not blind. I see her too. Go and get her," a voice in his ear whispered.

"I know, I'm going, I'm going," he grumbled.

"Have fun."

_-_

_Damn him!_ Alex cursed. He was definitely coming over towards her.

"I'm sorry Alex," her partner, Eric Madden, said in her ear, "We're all back here. Just keep your cool, do this one last guy, and then you're at home."

Alex however,didn't answer; she was too busy smiling at the man coming toward her.

"Hey there handsome," she greeted coyly, sizing this guy up. He didn't look like a user. His eyes were clear, his clothes relatively clean. That usually meant he was a dealer. Her captain would be pleased. Good for her captain. Maybe next time, he could stand out here for four hours in a skirt.

-

"Hello yourself," Bobby answered back, observing the woman in front of him. She was quite possibly one of the nicer girls he had seen today. A black mini-skirt clung tightly to her, as did her blue top, which was, to his pleasure, extremely revealing. Maybe this last bust wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. He always loved these added bonuses to working undercover. He was going to get as much out of this as he possibly could.

"So what can I do for you?" The woman continued, sidling up to him.

He wrapped his arms around her, and started stroking her bare back.

Sometimes this job wasn't so bad.

-

Alex was going to throw up.

Sometimes, she really hated this job.

This disgusting piece of filth was touching her back, and wandering further down.

"That depends," the man answered back, "What can you do?" And with that, he dipped his head down and kissed her firmly on the lips.

Alex felt like biting this guy's tongue (which was quickly trying pushing itself into her mouth). Why couldn't he have made this easy? Say he wanted some sex, handed her the drugs, and Eric could have jumped this creep.

But no, here she was, a married woman, groping and making out with a complete stranger.

Oh, the joys of her job.

-

Oh, the joys of his job.

He could be home right now, lonely and bored. Instead, here he was, making out with a beautiful woman.

Who just happened to be a complete stranger.

He finally pulled away from her.

"Like what you see?" she asked in a husky voice.

"I like it," he agreed, "but how much is it going to cost me?"

She gave a sly smile, "You look pretty well off to me. Let's say that I get a down payment now, and when we wrap up this little shin-dig we can work out the final payment."

"Got her," the voice said in Goren's ear, "go for it."

Goren grinned and reached into his pocket.

-

"Got him," Eric whispered excitedly.

Alex was getting visibly anxious now. _Almost there, almost there._

The man across from her held out a couple of dime bags, "This good?" he asked.

"Perfect," Alex grinned reaching for the bag.

Within seconds they were both surrounded by guns carried by varying officers of the Vice and Narcotics squad.

(Warning: major mood shift).

Twohours later they sat outside of the office where both their captains were currently explaining themselves to the chief of detectives.

She, and the man next to her, had already given their account of what happened. So now it was up to someone else to figure out how it was that two different departments did not know that the other was running an undercover operation on the same exact street.

"Well this is uncomfortable," Alex finally broke the silence.

"Wha?" the other detective looked up suddenly, "Oh-yeah, I guess that's one word for it,"

"So how long have you been doing this?" Alex decided to try and break the ice.

"Undercover stuff?" he asked; Alex nodded. He ran a hand through his hair, furrowing his brows in concentration, "I, uh, guess it's been about six months with the minor stuff. I was part of a major bust for about two years."

"Two years?" Alex whistled in appreciation, "Man, the longest I've ever been under was eight months."

Once again, an silence fell between the two detectives.

"Do you.. do you want to go get something to eat?" he asked suddenly, taking Alex by surprise. She looked up sharply. "I mean," he stumbled slightly, "Look, they're not going to be done for a while, and I haven't eaten in ten hours. There's a Chinese place across the street and I'm going. D'you want to join me?"

"Sure," agreed Alex, a little taken back.

"Good," he said, a playful grin coming to his face.

As Alex stood up, she watched in amazement as he not only got her coat for her, but also helped her put it on, and opened the doors for her.

She felt like making some characteristic smart-ass comment about chivalry not being dead to drive him away, push him back a little bit. But something stopped her. Steven was working tonight; she would have a one night flirting-fling. If that's what she was going to do. She just couldn't tell with this guy. For now, she would play it cool.

They had soon gotten their food and sat down to eat. For a while they ate in comfortable silence, until he stopped eating and covered his mouth with one hand, staring intently at something.

"Your husband," his free hand gesturing toward the ring on her finger, which she had put on once they got back to the station, "He doesn't mind you doing this for a living?"

Alex gave a little chuckle and gazed fondly at the diamond on her finger, "No, in fact he's the one who set me up with this job. He's part of the hostage negotiation team, where my captain used to work. He pulled a few strings to get me in."

The other detective laughed, still looking down at some unknown object, his face starting to turn red, "Look, about earlier, out on the street, I guess the real reason for this dinner is to apologize for my behavior. I don't usually...well that's not normally how I act. It was totally and completely inappropriate behavior for a detective. Even if I was undercover."

Alex didn't know what to say. What did you say to such plain emotion and apology from a man who looked like this? At a loss for meaningful words, she resorted to best defense.

"Yeah, because I usually throw myself at random men out on the street?" she snorted, causing him to give her a sharp glance, "Look, it was late, we were both cranky and tired. Both of us just wanted to get the bust done as soon as possible. Let's just leave it at that."

He was staring at her strangely now, like he hadn't expected those words to ever come out of someone like her.

"Okay," he agreed after a pause. He stood up slowly,"We'll leave it at that. I'm sure our captain's are probably looking for us both right now anyway."

Alex nodded, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable for a reason that she couldn't place.

He handed her, her jacket and as he did, his hand hit hers. A shock ripped through her body and she physically jumped backwards. As she glanced up to his face, she saw that his eyes were equally clouded in confusion. Both looked at each other one last time and hurried out the door.

She saw him after that,from time to time, in different situations. They would smile at each other, both blatantly ignoring the spark they both felt that night. When Steven died, she saw him in the very back of the crowd at the burial. When their eyes met, she was surprised to find his filled not with the pity that she detested; the pity thatso many of her friends and familyexpressed, but with understanding; understanding of the hurt and loss that she felt at that moment. And the next day, when her captain delivered a single red rose to her, saying it came anonymously, she knew who it was from.

A week later, she put in for a transfer. When she got her orders, she learned she would be working at the Major Case Squad, partnered with Robert Goren. She was certainly privy to all the rumors of course. His fine line of genius and insanity, his...unique... methods, and of course his uncanny abilities to read minds that had made him so difficult to work with.

Alex wasn't fazed. She handled jerks everyday; this one would be no different.

She checked in with her new captain, a James Deakins, who her father claimed was a top-notch mediator. He pointed toward her desk, telling her that Detective Goren was running a little late this morning and wished her a half-hearted, 'Good luck', as she walked out the door.

She settled into her new desk, spinning in her chair, and taking in the new workplace. It certainly didn't seem any different from Vice. True, there were no women walking around in skimpy outfits, while men's eyes followed them around the station. Everyone here was dressed in no-nonense clothing, pouring over case files.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure settle into the desk across from her, '_Here goes nothing,'_ she thought, and spun around to meet the infamous Robert Goren.

Shefroze.

He, on the other hand,didn't seem to be in quite as much shock, "You, uh, probably never looked up who I was after that night," he smiled almost apologetically, like he was sorry that she didn't know who he was (_that damn chivalry again_) and stuck out his hand, "I'm Robert Goren by the way. Bobby, actually."

She took his hand, still at a loss for words. When their palms met, she felt a familiar shock run through her body. This time however, she didn't jump back, "Bobby," she greeted tentatively, "I'm Alex Eames."

"I know," he said quietly.

A few feet away, James Deakins looked on in interest. He hadn't pressed Goren when he insisted that Deakins snatch up this DetectiveAlex Eames when she put in for a transfer. But Deakins had guessed that he had some kind of hunch about her. He still didn't know what that hunch was, but he did know that Goren was right.


End file.
